I am staying quietly optimistic that Arteta will eventually try out the front 4 which against Sheffield looked really threatening for a 20m period, which gave us flashbacks to Wenger ball a little. I feel like it is the right formation to play in easy games or games vs teams who are playing quite defensively like we saw yesterday:
----------Saka---------Auba------------Pepe---------
-----------------------Willian--------------------------
In this formation both the wingers are capable of scoring goals and putting in good deliveries. The 3 players surrounding Auba can link up and take players on, covering for Aubameyang's poor ability on the ball.
Behind them we can play Partey and Ceballos who can both sit and take turns joining the attack if needed.
In more tougher games we can make this more of a solid midfield, a 3 man midfield:
------Willian-------Auba-----------Pepe----------
------Saka--------Thomas-------Ceballos-------
This would make us more hard to break down but still dynamic going forward. Saka would be in the midfield as he is capable of acting like a left sided midfield player and can even cover KT at left back if needed. If required Xhaka/Elneny could play in the place of Ceballos.
By playing these two set ups, our striker wont need to be the false 9 type and we could get the best out of our strikers. Nketiah would suddenly be more useful as an option. Martinelli would be able to play there when he returns too. Lacazette's career here starting in the PL should be over.
Last edited: Oct 26, 2020